What's the difference?

Question

Hello.Please, could you explain to me the difference between "who knew?" and "who would have know?"? And if it's not a problem for you, could you make a couple of examples that could clarify the difference, please?Thank you.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

poppymanthe difference between "who knew?" and "who would have known?"?

- The teacher asked a difficult question in class today.
- Who knew the answer?

- I didn't have time to clean the floor thoroughly. I had to hurry.

- You could have just swept the dust under the carpet. Who would have known?

CJ

Poppyman · Answer

It's all clear now. Thank you very much for helping!

Dimsumexpress · Answer

poppymanHello.

Please, could you explain to me the difference between "who knew?" and "who would have know?"? And if it's not a problem for you, could you make a couple of examples that could clarify the difference, please?

Thank you.

Actually, there is quite a bit of tense and "conditional" explanations to your question.

You don't have a context with your question, so I am going to make one up with what your phrases in mind.

"who knew?" Is not a real question "a native would say", and I emphasize that phrase quite often because even if a poster has a question that looks grammatical, it doesn't mean it's good or natural English.

Ex:

James asked Sally. What time is Tom finished with the conference?

Sally: who knows, he did tell me. - the phrase means "I don't have any idea" But the verb "is typically used in presents tense".

Sally continued to say: Tom became a totally person since he got VP promotion, "who would have known" among the qualified candidates in our department, he got the job. Here "who would have known" implies a sentiment of shock and displeasure, meaning " no one would have guessed it " which is a subjunctive mood.

I don't know if that helps you or not.

What's the difference?

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